Belt sanders are particularly useful for rapidly sanding flat surfaces, such as floors. However, the prior art belt sanders were not able to sand up to the very edge of a transverse surface intersecting the surface being sanded. For instance, when sanding a floor in a room, the edge of the floor adjacent to a wall or corner cannot be sanded with a belt sander because the sander housing interferes and prevents the sanding belt from contacting the floor surfaces adjacent to the wall.
The present invention is directed to overcoming this limitation and deficiency in the prior art belt sanding devices.